Gulmarg Gondola to resume operations from Tuesday

The Gulmarg Gondola, will resume normal operation on Tuesday after having been suspended after the recent fault that led to 320 tourists stranded mid-air, officials said on Sunday.

Officials said that the services will be resumed after an expert trial run of the project is completed on Monday.

The cable car project is a major tourist attraction at the ski resort.

“Experts will conduct the test trial of the Gondola system on Monday to assess operational safety and technical performance before allowing public services to resume from Tuesday. The Gondola had remained closed for tourists till June 1 following a technical malfunction that led authorities to suspend operations and undertake maintenance work.

“During the closure period, all tickets for visit dates between May 25 and June 1 were ordered to be refunded in full,” officials said.

After a technical snag, the Cable car project had stopped completely, with 320 people stranded mid-air in cabins on May 25.

All 320 tourists stranded mid-air were safely evacuated after a technical malfunction halted operations on both phases of the cable car system.

The massive six-hour rescue mission was successfully executed by the Indian Army, J&K Police, SDRF, and local authorities.

The passengers were stranded in 65 cabins across the mountainous terrain, with some cabins suspended as high as 500 feet above the ground.

Emergency response teams of Army, SDRF and Police reached the affected areas using snowmobiles and ATVs, launching a high-risk manual evacuation process in poor weather conditions to bring all visitors to safety.